Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene L

Out on the Harbour Lands the campaign tents dotted the muddy fields. The Brynnyfirdian flags brazen in the wind, pointing skyward from the tent-tops. The blue and green a picture of the wider landscape, pivoted for warcraft. Peerless in the daylight. Essen sat brooding, eager with rage. On this last finger of land they stood hemmed in against all odds. Sandwiched between conquered land and hostile sea. Numbered six and seven to one. The wind whipped blood and salt upon the air, as swords and horses stood ready to pitch final battles in the open field. The rowdy noise of those left living daubed with apprehension.

Meanwhile, across the sea, on the shores of the Northern Kingdom, Eartaria had arrived to find equally stoic minds awaiting death and conflict. Though this time the half-tail warriors were not just men, but women and children too. Hardened by siege, none now unfamiliar with the terror of desiccated bodies and bloody wounds. Word had come of King Brijsk's offer of terms, but the call had been sent back firmly:

"We refuse all terms, we have the secret of powder now; we will fight for our homes, in the sleet and in the rain, come fire or sword. We'd prefer to see every half-tail's throat slit than to see a single one on the leash of slavery."